June 15, 2014

South Korea reports new case of bird flu

An additional outbreak of bird flu has been confirmed, the government said Saturday, dashing hopes that the avian influenza (AI) in the country is under control.

The new case of highly pathogenic AI was reported at a duck farm in Hoengseong, about 90 kilometers east of Seoul, earlier this week, and hundreds of ducks and chickens have already been slaughtered in order to prevent a spread of the animal disease into nearby regions, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

The confirmed bird flu case, the latest in 20 days, came as the government was set to announce later this month that the animal disease is completely under control.

South Korea suffered an AI breakout in February, possibly caused by migratory birds from China. Over 13.8 million birds here have been slaughtered since the outbreak was first reported at a duck farm on Feb. 16.

Health officials here have said the bird flu poses no immediate threats to humans, with no human infection of the strain reported so far.

This story has been in the Korean media since yesterday, but I didn't run it because they didn't mention the strain. It could be H5N1 or H5N8; we'll have to wait to find out.

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An additional outbreak of bird flu has been confirmed, the government said Saturday, dashing hopes that the avian influenza (AI) in the country is under control.

The new case of highly pathogenic AI was reported at a duck farm in Hoengseong, about 90 kilometers east of Seoul, earlier this week, and hundreds of ducks and chickens have already been slaughtered in order to prevent a spread of the animal disease into nearby regions, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

The confirmed bird flu case, the latest in 20 days, came as the government was set to announce later this month that the animal disease is completely under control.

South Korea suffered an AI breakout in February, possibly caused by migratory birds from China. Over 13.8 million birds here have been slaughtered since the outbreak was first reported at a duck farm on Feb. 16.

Health officials here have said the bird flu poses no immediate threats to humans, with no human infection of the strain reported so far.

This story has been in the Korean media since yesterday, but I didn't run it because they didn't mention the strain. It could be H5N1 or H5N8; we'll have to wait to find out.